


Sometimes We Break So Beautiful

by actualgrantaire



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, low key scar worship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-15
Updated: 2020-12-15
Packaged: 2021-03-10 16:41:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,883
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28090308
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/actualgrantaire/pseuds/actualgrantaire
Summary: Neil has a rough game that only a bath with Andrew can fix.
Relationships: Neil Josten/Andrew Minyard
Comments: 4
Kudos: 119
Collections: AFTG Exchange Winter 2020





	Sometimes We Break So Beautiful

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is a gift for [lemonboyjosten](https://lemonboyjosten.tumblr.com/) as part of the [aftg winter gift exchange](https://aftgexchange.tumblr.com/)! I haven't had the motivation to write in a while but this was definitely a blast to write. My only apology is that it's on the short side.

The alarm sounded to end the game between the US Court and the German national team. The score was 10 to 9, with the US Court taking home the victory. However, their star striker Neil Josten didn't look like he wanted to celebrate. He spoke German, so he'd understood the comments the German players had made when they thought he couldn't understand them. Most of them were old news. His scars came up several times, and one of the German strikers asked how he could possibly have a boyfriend with such a fucked up face. It shouldn't have bothered Neil, but the minute the game was over and he looked for Andrew in the stands he felt a slight tinge of guilt. He  knew that Andrew didn't give a fuck about his scars but between his less than perfect performance in the game and the German striker's comment, he was struggling to remember that at the moment. He let out a long sigh and the rational part of his brain tried to remind the rest of his brain that Andrew would absolutely want to see him right now. In fact, Andrew was no longer in the stands. His boyfriend was almost certainly coming down to see him. He took the time to take off his protective armor, but rather than take a shower and change into the clean clothes he'd brought, Neil simply put his dirty jersey back on and went out to meet Andrew in the lobby outside the locker room. 

  


Andrew raised an eyebrow when he saw Neil's disheveled appearance. Usually Neil would shower so they could leave immediately after he came out, but this meant either Neil hadn't planned on showering or that he wanted to see Andrew immediately. 

  


"Wanted to see me that badly, huh? I don't have an Exy kink like you so this look does nothing for me," Andrew said as Neil approached him. He may have been lying just a bit. He didn't have an Exy kink, but he did have to admit that Neil looked pretty hot after a game. 

  


Neil rolled his eyes, and took Andrew's hand in his. "Asshole. I wanted to see you because...okay, it's going to sound stupid but you don't care about my scars, right? You're not with me out of pity or anything?" He asked, squeezing Andrew's hand tightly. 

  


"No, idiot. I'm not with you out of pity. I genuinely find you attractive even with the scars. Where's this coming from?" He asked, squeezing Neil's hand in return to try and reassure him.

  


"German players who don't know how to mind their own fucking business. Of course, they were speaking in German, but I still understood them. They couldn't believe I had a boyfriend with all my scars."

  


Andrew took a step closer to Neil and kissed one of the knife scars on Neil's face. "I like your scars, okay? They're proof of how you're a survivor. I don't expect assholes who know nothing about you to understand that. But you have nothing to worry about." He offered Neil another squeeze of his hand before he added "I'm not letting you into the Maserati like this so you better go shower." 

  


Neil rolled his eyes fondly but nodded. "Okay, fine. I won't mess up your precious car. Thank you, though. For the reassurance." He gave Andrew a small smile before he left to shower and change into his street clothes. 

  


The US Court's home court had installed stalls before Neil had gotten there and he was infinitely grateful for them right now. He'd been able to shower in front of the team before, but tonight he just wasn't in the right headspace for it. He didn't waste time in the shower, and before long, he was dressing himself in one of Andrew's hoodies and a pair of sweatpants. He put his dirty uniform in the laundry, grabbed the rest of his stuff, and met Andrew back in the lobby. 

  


"I didn't say you could steal that hoodie," Andrew said with a small smile. He loved seeing Neil in his clothes. It was only slightly annoying when he wanted to wear something particular only to find out Neil had claimed it as his own. 

  


"Too bad. It's mine now. Until it stops smelling like you, then I'll steal another one," Neil replied, a challenging look on his face. 

  


"You're such a fucking junkie." Andrew rolled his eyes, and took Neil's free hand. He dragged him off to the Maserati before Neil had the chance to reply. 

  


The drive home was a relatively quiet one, just the usual banter and singing along with the songs that played on the radio. Both of them would deny it when asked, but they liked listening to top 40 stations and usually knew most of the songs after listening to them over and over as was the way of the radio. 

  


Once they opened the door to their apartment, King Fluffkins and Sir Fat Cat McCatterson were up and moving to rub against Andrew's legs. Neil had rescued them, but they seemed to like Andrew the most, much to Andrew's chagrin at first. Andrew was very loving with them now, though, and reached down to give both of them behind-the-ear scratches. King and Sir purred and Neil smiled as he watched. 

  


"Am I just chopped liver?" Neil asked with absolutely no venom in his voice. He didn't mind that King and Sir seemed to prefer Andrew. It was about time that someone other than him preferred Andrew. "Wait. Do cats like chopped liver?" 

  


"No clue," Andrew replied, standing back up. "I'd say just give it to them and see but I wouldn't want them to get sick or anything." 

  


"Aww, you've gone soft," Neil teased, leaning over to kiss Andrew's cheek. 

  


"I just don't want to be cleaning vomit out of the carpet. Why did we agree on a carpeted apartment, anyway? Carpet sucks." Andrew shook his head. He hadn't thought they'd be getting cats when they agreed on the carpet. And he'd been watching a considerable amount of HGTV where it was agreed upon that carpet did indeed suck. 

  


"When we move I'll make sure we have hardwood floors. Anything else, Mr. HGTV? An open floor plan? An eat in kitchen?" Neil asked, his eyebrows raised. He knew about Andrew's HGTV secret.

  


"Oh shut up," Andrew replied, walking towards the kitchen, King and Sir hot on his heels. He gave them both a bowl of food and then turned to Neil who had ended up right beside him as if Neil couldn't go longer than five minutes without being by his side. "What? He asked in response to Neil's questioning look. 

  


"Can we try something tonight? Like, I don't know if you'll like it, but I'd like to try it." 

  


"Okay, you're going to have to be a bit more specific because all I can think of right now is some BDSM shit and I know that's probably not what you're going for." 

  


Neil flushed and shook his head. "No, no. Nothing like that. Although it will require no clothing. Unless, I guess, you want your clothes to get wet, but that would defeat the purpose…anyway, Allison gave me a bath bomb and I'd like to try it with you." 

  


Andrew raised an eyebrow. "A bath bomb? And you think we can both fit in our bathtub?" 

  


"You know we can. It's one of the pros of being short and having a short boyfriend. The bath bomb is black if that helps. It'll turn the water black and the stuff inside is supposed to be good for your skin." 

  


"Fine," Andrew replied with a small sigh. He knew this would help Neil and if he was being honest the idea wasn't horrible. Plus, black water sounded pretty cool. 

  


Andrew picked up the empty food bowls and put them in the sink and Neil petted both of the cats before he went into their bedroom. Andrew soon followed and watched as Neil turned the water on to fill up the bath. Neil then began taking off his clothes, leaving the hoodie for last since he was standing near the mirror and didn't really want to look at all of the scars it would unveil. 

  


Andrew noticed his hesitancy, and crossed over to stand directly in front of him. "Hey. Look at me. You're so fucking beautiful just the way you are, no matter what any asshole says. Want me to help take it off?" He asked, his hands hovering near the hem of the hoodie. 

  


Neil nodded. "Yeah. Can you?" He asked, his voice a little small. Andrew obliged, pulling the hoodie up and over Neil's head. Andrew pressed a kiss to the iron scar on Neil's shoulder and looked back up at him. 

  


"Want to help me get these off?" Andrew asked Neil even though he was doing pretty alright. He just knew that it would help get Neil's mind off his own scars. Neil started with the shirt Andrew was wearing, but left the armbands on while he removed the bottom half of Andrew's clothes. 

  


"Ready?" Neil asked, looking down at the armbands. Andrew nodded and Neil slid them off, revealing the scars underneath. Neil pressed a kiss to Andrew's forearm and smiled. "I think you're fucking beautiful too, by the way."

  


Andrew rolled his eyes, but it really did help him be more at ease when Neil said shit like that to him. "Where's the bath bomb?" He asked, turning the water off because the tub had filled up while they were undressing. 

  


"Right here." Neil produced a glittery black sphere from under the sink. "Would you like to do the honors?" He asked, offering the bath bomb to Andrew. 

  


"You just drop it in, right?" 

  


"Right." 

  


"Okay, yeah. Hand it over." 

  


Neil handed the bath bomb to Andrew who then proceeded to drop it into the tub of water. It fizzled and Andrew was quite mesmerized by it until it stopped. "That was pretty cool," he said to Neil with a small smile. 

  


"Yeah, it is. Now you can take the most edgy yet nourishing bath with me," Neil replied, taking Andrew's hand and pulling him even closer to the tub. He got in without letting go of Andrew's hand. Andrew quickly followed suit and they arranged themselves without making too much a watery mess. 

  


"Told you we would both fit," Neil teased and leaned closer to kiss Andrew properly. The kiss wasn't very deep but Andrew returned it all the same. When Neil went to pull away, Andrew pulled him back and peppered kisses along Neil's neck. It made Neil shutter but not as much as Andrew did when Neil returned the favor. "You and your fucking neck fetish," Andrew murmured, keeping Neil close. 

  


"You started it," Neil pointed out, and pressed a kiss to Andrew's jaw. "Now will you let me wash you? You're not just supposed to make out in a bath." 

  


Andrew rolled his eyes and released Neil to do just that. However, once they had both been properly washed by the other, they stayed in the bath until their toes pruned. It turned out that perhaps for them, baths were mainly for making out. 


End file.
